Me and Emily
by cinnamonscars
Summary: She wasn’t the same person as she once was and she would never be her again. She had too much baggage. Will she be able to live life normally or will she be lost forever?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

She couldn't believe that she actually did it.

She escaped.

She had been dreaming of this day for over two years.

She planned this for months.

He always left for work at 7 am and his first phone call would be at 7:15. His next would be at 8. He would call her every thirty minutes after. Then he would return for lunch at 11. He would then call her every half an hour until he arrived back at home at 5. This happened every day. Right on schedule. If she didn't answer he would be home within ten minutes. This never left her much time.

Last time she tried, she had not been far enough away by the time he figured it out. He knew everyone at their local police station and they had found her driving down the interstate. After the beating that night, she couldn't walk for a week.

She learned that she couldn't take one of their cars or public transportation. It was just too risky. Everything needed to be precise. She didn't have a second to spare. She had to leave after his phone call at 8, but she also had to take into account all of the traffic congestion on the roads. He knew it would be nearly impossible to make it very far in the morning rush hour.

A few weeks after her first attempt she was ready to start planning her next escape. She knew she needed someone else's help, so she waited for her 45-minute gap and ran to the nearest payphone. She called 411 and found the closest women's shelter. The representative and her began to set out a plan.

She needed a car and money.

Her father had passed away a little over a year ago from a heart attack, which meant she didn't have to wait three more years for her trust fund. She had never told him about this account.

She planned on going to the closest rent-a-car and using a fake ID that the shelter gave her, she would hurry out of town.

She knew where she needed to go. It was where she was always safe.

Newport Beach, California.

She never thought she would ever go back there again. She had left her past behind for him. But she knew that she would be safe there. People there could protect her.

Throughout the next few weeks she would sporadically going to different payphones to talk to Sandra, the woman from the shelter. She could never schedule when she could talk to her; he could be watching her, watching for a pattern.

Her life was finally going to change. She was going to be free.

Her escape was planned for February 24th, 2012.

But fate didn't always let things happen as they had been planned.

--

Summer noticed that the rain was starting to pour down. She knew that she needed to find a motel to stay at. She was somewhere in Tennessee and she was trying to find a safe little interstate town.

She looked down at the prepaid cell phone that she picked up at a 7-Elevn back in South Carolina. It was flashing low battery. She needed to find a place soon.

Finally, she approached a well lit exit with a Motel 8. She just needed a bed in a safe place for a few hours.

As she pulled into a parking spot, she glanced in the rear view mirror and was met by a pair of crystal blue eyes.

Her heart stopped for a moment.

She was sure she would be asleep for the rest of the night, but couldn't help the smile the spread through her face.

This was the reason she was risking her life.

For her daughter.

Her eyes filled with tears when she glanced down her body and saw all of the bruises that covered her arms.

She failed.

She had let it happened. What she always said she would die before she let happen: he hurt her baby girl.

That was why fate changed her plans. It was January 3rd and she finally left the man who had destroyed her life.

The father of her child.

--

A/N: I know that chapter was short but I just wanted to set up the beginning of the story. The song that this fic is based on is _Me and Emily_ by Rachel Proctor. It is an amazing song. Please review! I won't continue this unless people are interested.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A.N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! They really motivate me to write.

And to all other Seth/Summer writers out there, please keep writing! I have been reading stories on this site since the first season and it is really sad to see that there are still so many fics being written about the other couples, but there is a severe drought with S/S.

So, in this story everything that happened in the finale happened except Sandy and Kirsten did not move to Berkley. (I am from Orange County so it makes it easier for me to write and I didn't like this decision anyway) And everything in the montage happened or is happening now except the marriage and Ryan seeing the boy.

And sorry for any language or situations that might offend you, but I am trying to make this as realistic as I can. Also, sorry for any mistakes, I didn't really have much time to edit since I wanted to get this up tonight for all of you.

Enjoy!

--

She thought she had her whole life planned out.

She was going to go to Brown and Seth was going to join her at RISD after Christmas. They would live in the dorms for the first year, then get an apartment together for the rest of college. After they graduated, they would get married. Then have kids and live happily ever after.

But fate always had another idea for her.

On the night of her high school graduation, her best friend died.

She tried to deny the pain she was feeling and when she left for college she became a completely different person. She was no longer materialistic or shallow. She became someone she would look up to, someone she was proud of, an environmentalist. She wished that this change would have been her idea and under her terms, but she was using it to cover up her true feelings.

She was lost.

Her best friend died.

The harsh reality that life was short and no one is invincible was thrust upon her. She used her newfound environmentalism as a protective cover. She had a new life and sense of being.

She didn't have to think of her old one, her old shallow self.

But she did, because the people who mattered most to her were from her past and reminded her of it.

Most importantly, Seth Cohen.

But when she thought of being with Seth she remembered all of the times she spent with him and their two best friends. She now associated him with sadness.

Plus, he was the number one example of her shallowness. She ignored perhaps the greatest guy alive for over ten years, just because he wasn't perceived as cool enough.

She had already felt so much guilt about that.

And Seth knew she had changed and tried to accept the new Summer.

When she returned home after being suspended from Brown, their relationship changed,

But it wasn't for the worst.

She still hid her feeling behind the environment, but that didn't mean that she didn't truly care for it. She did become passionate through the whole experience.

And most importantly, she still loved him.

She learned to blend her new life with her old and when she was offered the spot with G.E.O.R.G.E., he was the one who she had to sacrifice.

It was only one year and they both knew it would be though, but they would work through not seeing each other and await the moment they would be reunited again.

This was not supposed to be the end of their relationship.

But it was.

Summer loved the experience she had touring the country and feeling as though she was making a difference in peoples lives. It was exhilarating and made her feel very needed and special.

She finished her year and thought she was just going to go back to Brown, be with Seth, and start her future.

She returned at the end of January, but after a few weeks back in college she didn't feel like she belonged. This was when she was offered a higher position with G.E.O.R.G.E. to tour around the country until the next November for the presidential election.

Summer talked to Seth would was not very happy with the idea of her leaving again for the next ten months when she had just returned, but he did not want her to regret anything and solemnly let her go.

It did help that she had a month vacation from her new position in the summer.

When August 1st finally came, Seth could not be more excited. He had their whole month planned out and could not wait to spend every waking moment with her.

But when Summer came home, she did not want to spend all her time with Seth. She still loved him and wanted to be his girlfriend, but she had gained a newfound independence with G.E.O.R.G.E. and almost felt suffocated.

She also knew deep down that she didn't want to get attached to him once again. It was always so hard to say goodbye,

She tried to be with him often, but she did not want to feel restricted and they slowly started to drift apart.

A few days after her 20th birthday they went to a party and both became pretty intoxicated.

--

Seth saw Summer talking to some old friends from high school across the room and couldn't help but scoff.

She didn't care about them; she hated all of those shallow people. Now, though, if he didn't know better he would think that they were best friends. She was laughing and joking around with them, but he knew that she was just doing this because she needed to avoid him.

He didn't really know why she had been acting so cold to him since she arrived back in Newport. He had been nothing but nice to her the whole time. He even tried to tone down his sarcasticness, since she now believed that she was above it.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, she had become a total bitch to him.

He was really confused too since their phone conversations were exactly like they were in high school, the old Seth and Summer. The bickering, the jokes, everything.

"Hey, man. Why are you not enjoying the last few nights you have with her before she leaves again?" Ryan asked approaching Seth.

"Because she doesn't want to be with me." Seth replied with a slight slur.

"What is going on? I know you haven't answered me once, but it is obvious to everyone that something is wrong. Hell, I even think that Sophie knows."

"I have no fucking clue, why don't you ask her. She is the one that is doing it."

"Seth, she is only here for three more nights. You need to make the most out of them. Just talk to her, she loves you." Ryan said to try to raise his spirits, which he knew was a waste since Seth was drunk. And a drunk Seth was way too overemotional when nothing was wrong in his life.

"I guess I will go talk to her, but I don't think this is going to change her mind."

Seth walked off to talk to Summer outside, while Ryan went to find Taylor and a few other friends he had met up at Berkley.

Ryan was engaged in a game of beer pong when he heard the loud drunken slurs of two people he knew too well coming from the beach.

"I don't know why we even stayed together in the first place! You haven't cared about this relationship for over a year!" Seth shouted.

"Oh yeah, because I wanted to waste the few hours a night I could have been actually sleeping talking to you on the phone! I would call that commitment. You don't want me to follow my dreams! You always have to have everything your way." Summer retorted.

"If I always got everything I wanted then you would have never gone off to your stupid environmentalist shit in the first place! We are ending this once and for all. You clearly don't love me anymore, so I am done!"

"I cannot believe that you just called it my 'environmentalist shit'! You don't care about anyone but yourself! At lease I am making a difference in this world! You cannot say that. And we are done! Bye Seth." With that Summer stalked off to find someone who could take her home.

Seth was too pissed and too drunk to realize about a hundred people had just realized their fight. He grabbed another beer, chugged it, and found Ryan to get a ride home.

--

Summer woke up from a massive hangover the next morning and promptly left Newport forever. Even if she was completely inebriated, she knew what had happened that night.

Her and Seth broke up.

And it was for real this time.

She figured that she would give Seth a few days to cool off so both of them could think about everything and have a civilized conversation.

But when she tried to call him back, he had a new number and Taylor would not give it to her no matter how much she begged.

So Summer went on with her job and figured that they would work everything out when Seth returned for his winter break.

Because they were made for each other, and one stupid fight they had when they were drunk wasn't going to fix it.

But fate once again changed her plans.

After her break up Summer tried to go on like normal, but she became depressed and found comfort in alcohol. She slipped back into her old habits. And she took advantage of her fake ID.

One night she was out with a few coworkers and once again she became extremely drunk. She couldn't remember the exact details of her night, but it ended with her sleeping with one of her colleagues.

Mitchell Adams.

He was 24 years old and was one of the leaders of her group from the beginning and while they had become friends, they weren't very close.

He had graduated from Cornell, was from Connecticut, and looked exactly like someone she would have dating her freshman year of high school: blond hair, blue eyes, rich, and a lacrosse player.

Even if she hadn't been dating Seth, she would have never fallen for him. There was always something off that she could never quite put her finger on.

This one nightstand that neither of them would remember, however, would change both of their lives forever.

It started off with morning sickness, but Summer had tried to ignore it. She barely remembered sleeping with him and was trying to block it out of her memory.

Finally after missing her period and growing a cup size, she bought a test.

And it was positive.

Just like the other five after that.

And she couldn't believe that this was happening to her.

She was 20 years old and pregnant by a guy she didn't even really know. She didn't have a college education and was lost at what to do.

She couldn't get an abortion because of her views that every life, whether it was a human's or animal's, was precious.

She finally told Mitch the day after the election and he was shocked, but tried to do the right thing.

They both moved into a small house in Princeton, New Jersey that his parents had given him for graduation and started planning their future.

Princeton was where G.E.O.R.G.E. had their headquarters and Mitch was planning on working for them. Summer was going to start a job there too after the baby was born.

He had been nothing but a gentleman in the beginning when Summer wasn't very sure of the situation. He let her sleep in the other room until she gave in and started dating him for the sake of her baby.

She convinced herself that she would learn to love him.

And everything seemed as perfect as it could be in her situation.

That was until the first night that he hit her.

--

She was six months pregnant and felt fat.

None of her clothes had fit her in the past three months and she could not stand it. She constantly felt ugly and really missed her dad back in Seattle.

She had told him about the pregnancy a little over a month prior and while he wasn't thrilled by the news, he actually supported her in her decision and promised to make it out there for the birth.

Summer was cleaning up after dinner while Mitch was sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking a beer.

"Mitch, do you think you could take your feet off the coffee table? I just cleaned it today"

He ignored her and continued watching television.

She knew he would. He never listened to her if he didn't want to do it. He was literally the most stubborn person she had ever met, but she put up with it and tried to focus on his good qualities.

When she finished, she joined him on the couch to watch CSI.

Throughout the show Mitch kept trying to kiss her neck or rub her leg, but Summer was definitely not in the mood, She was taking a chapter out of his book and ignoring him.

When the show was finally over, he tried to kiss her and she resisted.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked her annoyed.

"I am really not in the mood." She shouted back.

"Come on, we haven't had sex in over a week."

"I don't care, I don't want to. I am not in the mood."

"You are never in the mood anymore." Mitch replied angrily.

"Well, maybe if you had remember to wear a condom I would be more in the mood." Summer spat back.

She never would have expected this to through him over the edge, but out of nowhere he slapped her hard across the face.

Summer gasped and quickly covered her cheek with her hand. She was scared out of her mind. She had never been hit in her life and didn't know what to do.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry Summer! I really didn't mean to. I don't know where that even came from. I wasn't thinking. I am just so stressed about this baby situation and I just snapped when you said it was my fault. I am so sorry! I love you, you know that. And our baby." Mitch quickly tried to apologize.

Summer just sat there stunned with tears filling her eyes.

She didn't know if they were because her cheek hurt or because she couldn't believe this was happening to her.

She didn't say anything and walked into their bedroom.

He came in an hour later. He thought she was sleeping, but in reality she was silently crying.

She couldn't believe that her life had come to this.

--

The next day Mitch came home early and took her on a date that started off at the doctor where she was able to find out they were having a little girl and ended with dinner at her favorite restaurant. He had insisted on waiting until the birth to find out the baby's sex even though she had always wanted to know, so he took her as a peace offering.

He was a perfect gentleman to her for the next month and she forgave him believing it was a one-time thing.

On May 15th, 2009 Summer was rushed to the hospital when she noticed a lot of bleeding when she went to the bathroom. She wasn't due for another two months and didn't know what was happening.

The doctors discovered that she suffered from Placenta Previa, a condition where the placenta covers the opening of the mother's womb.

That day Emily Hope Roberts was welcomed into the world.

She only weighed only 2 pounds 11 ounces and was 15 inches long.

Summer had never been so scared in her life. She couldn't lose her baby after everything she had been through. She could no longer see herself not having a baby.

Emily was a true fighter and even though the odds were against here many times in her first few months, she made it through and went home a month and a half after she was born as a healthy baby.

Summer had never been happier than when she brought her daughter home for the first time.

Her father had flown in from Seattle to meet his granddaughter for the first time and she had never seen Mitch so excited.

It was perfect.

She finally had her family and she was waiting for her happily ever after.

But of course that never happened.

There was a major problem in the house, Emily cried.

She didn't even cry often, but when she did cry, Mitch would become very angry.

He claimed that he couldn't think and it was Summer's fault for not being able to settle her down.

That was when the abuse really started.

At first, he would just slap her. But that led to punching. Then kicking.

There were days that she could barely get out of bed to feed her baby.

She didn't know what to do and Mitch convinced her that no one would believe her if she told.

She was under his control and he wouldn't let her do anything.

No one knew what was going on. Their lives seemed perfect. They had money, he had a fantastic job, and they had a beautiful baby.

No one saw what was happening behind closed doors.

After a while, Summer came to believe that she deserved her abuse.

She was never good enough and didn't know how to make him happy.

He was smart and learned early on not to hit her in the face when she was going to go out in public.

If he beat her too bad and she broke a bone, he would always take her to a different hospital claiming a car accident so no one became suspicious.

He became a volunteer sheriff for their town and knew every police officer so Summer knew she could never go to them.

For two years she endured the abuse until he finally went too far.

--

She woke up on the cool tile of the bathroom floor. Right away she could feel the blood drying on the side of her face.

Her whole body ached and she was pretty sure that she had broken another rib.

Why hadn't she waited another half hour to cook his dinner? Then it would have been warm enough. She was so stupid and could not do the simplest things.

She carefully got up off the ground to survey the damage that he had done, even though she knew that it was bad since she very rarely blacked out unless he hit her enough in the head.

Sure enough she saw blood dried from a gash in her scalp and fresh bruises forming over both eyes and her nose. Those were going to be a bitch to cover up.

She looked down to see fresh bruises covering old bruises on her ribs, stomach, and back.

She was naked so that meant that he had his way with her too.

At least she didn't remember anything after the first punch.

She quickly cleaned herself up and tried not to cry every time she moved her aching ribs.

She went into her room where she saw Mitch passed out on their bed, with two beer bottles on his nightstand. She quietly put on some pajamas and left to make sure Emily was asleep in her bed.

She slowly looked into her room and smiled when she saw her precious daughter laying there in the dark.

Summer had finally convinced Mitch that she needed a "big girl bed," and Emily couldn't have been more thrilled.

She walked father into the room to give Emily a kiss when she noticed the dark shadows over her arms.

Her heart started pounding as she ran to turn on the light. Her own injures were the farthest thing from her mind.

She approached Emily again and was startled by what she saw. There were bruises covering the little girl's upper arms. She gently turned her over to lift up her nightgown and saw the large bruise covering her stomach. She also noticed the dried tears on her face and broke down.

She had officially failed as a mother.

Her whole job was to protect her child and she couldn't even do that.

"Emily, I am so so sorry he did this to you." She wept.

She kept repeating how sorry she was while her precious daughter slept.

She had to leave.

Summer had to protect her daughter.

--

The next morning she was gone.

She rented the car and took the longest route out of town since he would expect her to go straight to the interstate.

She traveled across the country in four and a half days and finally arrived Sunday night in Newport Beach.

As she drove along Pacific Coast Highway through Newport she couldn't help the rush of memories that hit her.

As tears hit her eyes she quickly wiped them away. She couldn't be sad about the past. She now had a future and a future for her child. And no matter what, she wasn't going to give that up.

A little after 9 pm, Summer walked up the familiar drive away to the house that hadn't changed much in the past few years. The only noticeable difference was the children's toys scattered in the driveway.

As the walked up to the front door with her two and a half year old daughter sleeping on her shoulder, she knew she was finally going to get help.

She rang the doorbell and waited for the familiar face who was absolutely stunned when they opened the door.

--

A/N: So that was pretty much the back-story of how Summer arrived at this point in her life. Specific past events might be brought up in more detail later, I really don't know right now.

Please review, whether good or bad! They honestly motivate me more than you can believe!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you so much for all of your reviews! Sorry that it took this long to write. I am currently doing summer school and in finals week so it has been hard to find time to write, but the awesome earthquake today made me in the mood. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter!

--

"Oh my god!" Julie gasped. "Summer! What happened?"

"Um, it's a long story. Could I just come in?" Summer blushed.

Summer walked into her familiar house. She glanced around and saw that the only difference was that the pictures on the walls were no longer of her, but of the Cooper family. She continued following Julie into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Summer laid Emily down and she immediately snuggled into the closest pillow, which made Summer smile for the first time in days.

"Is she your daughter?" Julie asked.

"Yeah, her name is Emily." Summer replied as she admired her little girl.

Julie now had a better look at Summer. She was able to see the bruises covering her body and the unmistakable ones covering the little girl.

Julie had no idea what happened and didn't even want to what it was.

"Summer, I haven't seen or talked to you in three and a half years and now you show up with a daughter and both of you are covered in bruises. I don't even know what to say, but I really think we should get you both to the hospital. You look like you really need to see a doctor." Julie said once again scanning Summer's body.

"No, no." Summer shuck her head quickly. "I don't need to see anyone. No one can know that I am even here."

"You have to go to the hospital to get checked out. You don't know what is going on inside of you and your bruises are deep." Julie urged.

"No, I can't. He will find us if I go." Summer replied daring herself not to cry.

"Summer, you really need to tell me what happened. I am guessing that this guy is Emily's father."

Summer nodded, avoiding the first part. She really didn't want to talk about her past that night. She knew that Julie would inevitably need to know, but she was trying to escape from it for the time being.

"And that this wasn't the first time this happened to you."

She nodded again.

"Summer you need to go to the hospital. I work there now as a nurse and I can make it so everything is confidential and he won't be able to find out." Julie said as she gently brushed the bruises along Summer's arm.

"Really Julie, I have had this happen enough to know what to expect and how to cope with the injures. I will be perfectly fine in a few days," Summer retorted. She wasn't about to tell Julie that she knew she had a few broken ribs and they were really painful.

"What about your daughter? Don't you want to make sure she is okay?" Julie urged.

Summer didn't think anything serious was wrong with her, but she didn't really know. She knew that her arms were just bruised but her stomach was another issue. The bruise was massive and a deep purple. She didn't even want to think of what made it.

God, she felt like the worst mother in the world. She was refusing to go to the hospital when her daughter could be hurt.

She was trying to protect her, but once again she was failing. She really couldn't do anything right anymore.

Summer sighed. "Are you sure that no one would be able to find us? I have a fake ID from the women's shelter near my old house if that will help. You have to promise me that no one will be able to find out I was there." Summer pleaded.

"I promise. I know a lot of the nurses at the ER and I can guarantee you that everything will be confidential."

Truthfully, Julie just wanted Summer to go to the emergency room because she knew that they would take pictures of both the girls. Her own mother tried to press charges against her boyfriend when Julies was twelve, but lost the case since the abuse had taken place a few years earlier and all the evidence was gone.

"I just have to call someone to watch Josh. He is asleep, but I can't leave him alone." Julie said as she walked into the kitchen to call one of Kaitlin's friends who was home from college since she knew she couldn't call Sandy and Kirsten with Summer there.

Summer sat in the familiar living room and thought about all the memories that surrounded her there. She didn't really want to think about them, but they weren't really avoidable.

Her life was so much simpler when she lived there. All the drama she constantly experienced seemed so trivial and dumb compared to her current life. She wished she was still back in high school with no worries, but she wasn't and she had a lot of decisions she needed to make quickly that would plan her future.

She looked down at Emily still sleeping peacefully and almost became excited thinking of the new life she could have, even if Summer had no idea what it would hold or how she was going to get there. She took the first step in giving her daughter a new life and couldn't stop there.

Julie walked back in telling Summer that the babysitter was walking over right then and that it would be fine of they left.

--

The drive was uneventful.

Julie had figured that Summer didn't want to answer any more questions and drive the familiar roads to Hoag Hospital.

Once the entered the emergency room Summer sat down with Emily who was by then wide-awake while Julie took care of the paperwork.

Summer let Emily play with the few toys in the corner as Julie came and sat next to her.

"Okay, so it should be just a few minutes and one of the nurses will bring you and Emily back to be examined. You can expect x-rays for both of you and I am guessing they are going to do a CAT scan on your head to make sure nothing is wrong with your brain. You should probably be out with in the hour, but it may take a little longer depending on the other people needing to use the equipment." Julie informed her.

"Okay," Summer said as she nodded her head.

She had done this many times before. Even though Mitch never let the nurses know what really happened, they all knew the truth. Many of them would try to ask her if she needed help when he would walk away to talk to the doctor, but he would always come back before she could answer.

The tests were all a blur. Two hours after she entered the hospital she was allowed to leave. She had four broken ribs, slight swelling of her brain, and a concussion. Emily's bruises went all the way down to her stomach lining. Summer was given pain medication for both of them and told that they both needed to rest for at least three weeks and that they needed to see a doctor again in two.

When Summer came out and told Julie the results. Julie then asked her to wait in the waiting room so she could check with the nurses to confirm the confidentiality.

Julie found Patricia, who had been Summer and Emily's nurse.

"How did everything look?" Julie asked.

"This is one of the worst domestic violence cases I have seen in my whole 20 years of working her. Her x-rays showed multiple healed fractures on most of her bones, even her skull. She has scars from stitches all over her head. This is bad. She isn't going to go back to him, right?" Patricia asked

"No, I don't think so. She just showed up on my doorstep and the plates on her car say New Jersey, so I don't think she would have traveled across the country for nothing. You took pictures of her injuries and the girl's, right? Julie replied.

"Yeah, all taken care of. I will leave them in her file along with all of the results from the tests. You need to make sure she rests. Her injures are more serious than she thinks and running around after a two and a half year old isn't going to help. Make sure the little one rests as much as possible too. And watch her to make sure she is eating right; I can't even guess what he did to her to make that bruise. She really is an angel though."

"I will try. I have to get back to them but I will update you with any problems. Thank you so much for doing this. She feels like a daughter to me." Julie told her with a hug.

--

The drive was once again quiet since both Summer and Julie were too exhausted to talk.

As Julie pulled into the driveway, Summer woke up from her daze. She went to get Emily out of the backseat, but Julie stopped her.

"Summer, you really shouldn't be caring her. You need to take it easy and recover." Julie said as she picked up the little girl.

"Thanks." Summer replied with a smile. "I am not going to let you do everything though. I don't want to be a burden. I just need to stay here for a little bit until I can get back on my feet."

"Of course. You can stay forever if you want. You know, it still is your house." Julie said with a smile.

She had missed Summer. She was like a third daughter to her growing up. She hadn't seen or heard from Summer in over three years. Neil had told her that she continued with G.E.O.R.G.E., but nothing else.

"Thanks Julie."

They walked into the house and Julie placed Emily on the ground, so she could pay the babysitter.

Emily quickly walked over to her mom and lifted her hands to be held.

As Summer instinctively reached down to pick her up, she felt the familiar jolt of pain and stood back up.

Julie saw this and picked Emily back up herself. She expected Emily to cry for Summer, but she didn't make a noise and held on to her as if nothing was wrong.

"Emily certainly is well behaved. Josh would have been running around the hospital screaming, but Emily didn't make a peep." Julie stated with awe.

"Yeah, she has learned to be as quite as possible and to go with the flow at all times." Summer said sadly. As nice as it was to have her like that, she also wished that she had a normal childhood. She had wanted nothing more for her than normalcy ever since she was born. Since day one, she had a difficult life.

"Well, your room is exactly how you left it. I am going to go to sleep. I worked a twelve hour shift today and I am running on empty." Julie said jokingly.

"Oh, I am sorry Julie. You really didn't have to take us tonight. We could have gone to the hospital tomorrow." Summer replied.

"Oh no, it is fine. I wanted you to go tonight."

"If it isn't a problem, I was wondering if we could sleep in the guest room? I really don't think I can face my bedroom for awhile." Summer asked sadly.

"Yeah, no problem. I will bring Emily and your bag up there right now." Julie replied.

--

Summer dressed Emily in her pajamas and quickly got herself ready for bed.

She laid down next to her daughter who smiled up at her.

"Goodnight, princess." Summer said as she placed a kiss on her forehead.

She watched as Emily slowly closed her eyes and her deep breathing started before closing her own eyes.

Summer finally felt safe. She couldn't remember the last time she had that feeling.

She was starting her new life and wasn't going to let anything get in the way.

--

A/N: Please review!


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